book cover of The Twisted Patriot
 

The Twisted Patriot

(2011)
(The first book in the Inspector Lafarge series)
A novel by

 
 
A rising star in Macmillan’s government in the 1950s, Minister of State for Defence, Sebastian Stuart, mysteriously disappears just weeks after being on trial for treason during the Second World War.

The trial brings Stuart face to face with his one-time best friend from Oxford days, Sir Adam Steiner QC, one of the top criminal lawyers in the country.

Having betrayed Steiner as students by having an affair with Mirabelle, his beautiful girlfriend, Stuart now bears the brunt of Steiner’s calculated revenge.

Flashing back to their Oxford days and then edging forwards to span the Second World War period, the narrative reveals how Stuart set off to Berlin just as war is about to break out in Europe.

With friends in the German aristocracy, he revels in fine dining and the company of woman, taking any opportunities which come his way to seek adventure and self-preservation above all.

But later, as the true horrors of war are revealed, he finds that his unwitting compromise leads him into great danger and he ends up fighting with the German army, though in a bid to overthrow Hitler and Nazi rule from the inside.

Stuart navigates a perilous course until the end of the war, where he returns to England, ready to live his life in a more worthy manner, mindful of those close to him who didn’t make it through the conflict.

But his past catches up with him, and faces from the past return to haunt and accost him as he must account for his past actions.

Is Stuart a hero or an anti-hero?

The court questions whether he demonstrated courage or cowardice during the turmoil of the war, and the epic sweeps through the pre-war, wartime and post-war turmoil in Europe, where the enemy lines seem blurred at times as individuals made a bid to survive.

Tough moral questions and the consequences of Stuart’s decisions must be faced.

Although played out in the public eye, the fight between Steiner and Stuart is an intense personal vendetta and the dramatic end will shatter both their worlds.

The Twisted Patriot is a beautifully written historical novel which centers around the Second World War and idea of heroism.

Praise for Pirate Irwin:

'A brilliant detective story that captures the tensions of the era.' - Tom Kasey, best-selling author of Trade Off.

Pirate Irwin is a journalist and author based in Paris. As a sports journalist he has covered nearly every single major world sporting event reporting from four Football World Cups to four Olympic Games. His first novel was The Twisted Patriot which was nominated for the Amazon debut novel award, the Breakthrough award.


Genre: Historical

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